CHICAGO, Ill. – In its 38th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Federico Palacios-Garcia of Northwest Classen High School is the “2022-23 Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Soccer Player of the Year”. Federico is the first Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Soccer POTY to be chosen from Northwest Classen.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Palacios-Garcia as Oklahoma’s best high school boys soccer player.
The 5-foot-6, 140-pound senior forward led the Knights to a 13-5 record and a berth in the Class 6A State Semifinals this past season. Federico scored 20 goals and dished out 18 assists to average more than two points per game. He was named the Oklahoma Boys Soccer Jim Thorpe High School Player of the Year last week, and was also tabbed the All-City Conference Player of the Year in OKCPS.
A National Honor Society member and Student Council Representative, Palacios-Garcia has volunteered locally with “Latinos Without Borders”, which engages Latino high school students in Oklahoma and seeks to empower them to pursue a higher education and become leaders in their community. He has also donated his time on behalf of multiple community service initiatives through his church. “His finishing from everywhere on the field is almost unstoppable,” said Southmoore head coach Kit Stephenson. “He hit highlight-reel shots all the time. His movement off the shoulder of defenders is incredible. He’s also very good at finding the ball in tight spaces and getting his shot away quickly.”
Palacios-Garcia has maintained a 3.4 GPA in the classroom. He will attend Mid-America Christian University, where he will play soccer beginning this Fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross-country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one “National Player of the Year” in each sport. Palacios-Garcia now awaits to see if he is tabbed the boys soccer “National Player of the Year”.
